Grubhub owns seamless8/12/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() “As independent contractors, many of them are responsible not only for doing this work at their own risk, but also responsible to find their own equipment to do this work and that includes their health and safety,” Guallpa said. “Because this is the slowest season, people are being forced to actually be on the streets in the hopes of getting more deliveries for more tips.” By now it’s been six months,” Guallpa said. “We see a city who has actually disregarded the urgency and the need to implement the minimum pay. ![]() We look forward to announcing that rule in the near future,” a City Hall spokesperson said. “The Adams administration is in the process of finalizing a rule that will ensure delivery workers are paid a fair rate. The city has put forth new proposals, but there remains no minimum pay requirement to this day. While many delivery workers celebrated the city’s passage of protections for delivery workers in 2021, Guallpa said Mayor Eric Adams’ administration missed the deadline to implement the rule in January. Workers earn an average of $14.18 per hour before expenses, split equally between payments from apps and tips, according to the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. But because delivery workers are considered independent contractors, they are excluded from labor protections and exempt from minimum wage requirements. Guallpa explained that the majority of some 65,000 app-based delivery workers in the city are immigrants from South and East Asia, Latin America and Africa who end up in delivery jobs due to easy accessibility. “They’re responding to an emergency by being the people who are delivering not only food, but also delivering masks, delivering medicine, delivering essentials to keep New Yorkers at their homes safely, while they risk their lives.” “Deliveristas are on the front lines,” Ligia Guallpa, director of the Workers Justice Project, an organization that advocates for better working conditions for low-wage immigrant workers. And Uber reimburses their drivers for masks, sanitizers and disinfectants in a one-time payout. DoorDash provides free masks through its website as well. GrubHub, which also owns Seamless, another delivery app, noted that employees can order free PPE kits through the company’s website. A Grubhub spokesperson said in a statement that during this air quality crisis in the New York City area, the company will not be penalizing those who do not feel safe and opt out of deliveries. Popular apps Uber and DoorDash did not return NBC News’ request for comment. “We only get good tips when there’s rain, snow or any other kind of bad weather.” “What I have realized in all this time is that we must deal with bad weather so that there are more orders or more tips,” Solis said. Solis said that it usually takes extremely bad weather for that level of generosity to emerge. They pointed out they rely on tips, which often spike during inclement weather, from people who didn’t want to venture outside themselves and reward the drivers accordingly. “We don’t have that choice,” Solis told NBC News in Spanish.Īnd business only continued to boom, the workers said. Huang Mu Wangīut workers continued to make deliveries on bikes, motorcycles, scooters and other vehicles that made them susceptible to the open air. Antonio Solis, 36, an app-based delivery worker who is part of the Los Deliveristas Unidos collective, said that for many others like him, taking days off work means being unable to pay rent and bills on time and risking not having money to send back to their families in their countries of origin. Residents were also advised to limit outdoor time and wear N95 or KN95 masks. The poor air conditions continued Thursday, with officials advising all vulnerable people to stay indoors, close windows and doors, and use air purifiers. Despite advisories across all five boroughs, many delivery workers said they couldn’t afford to miss a day of work, particularly since there is currently no minimum wage requirement for many who operate as independent contractors. The Brooklyn-based worker, 38, is one of countless delivery people who continued to brave the conditions outside despite the city’s air quality being the worst in the world during a period of time Wednesday, due to the persistent smoke caused by more than 400 wildfires burning in Canada.
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